#and i'm like. you're not any better at understanding his character you are just simplifying him in the opposite way

[fuckedupwizard]

someone: it's such a disservice to shen jiu's character to defang him and act like he isn't really a child abuser, or the abuse wasn't that bad, or he didn't know what he was doing, and to take away the bitterness and resentment that is a huge part of his personality. him being kind of twisted is exactly what makes him fascinating. his suffering was utterly tragic but he should not have perpetrated it onto another.

me: YES! EXACTLY! THANK YOU

someone: that's why i wish people who like him could just admit that he sucks, and he's totally pure irredeemable scum with no good qualities, and his character is NOT deep or complex. he didn't even really care about yue qingyuan, he was too selfish for that, he just wanted him for protection and when that failed to guilt him for the rest of their lives. and no universe would change this, he probably kicks puppies for fun, and

me: ok hold on now. shut up?

[wakkass]

It's impossible to put into words how much I love designing characters, especially for AU.

Yes, I recently had an avatar AU, and I really wanted to draw Katara from there (and also Zuko). I usually draw a static pose in order to display all the details of the clothes. This is such a kind of character sheet that helps me to better imagine the scenes in my head.

If you're interested in reading about the AU itself, then there will be some information about it.

I apologize in advance for mistakes in the text, English is not my native language. But, I hope, this will not interfere with understanding.

In general, my AU concerns the ending of the series, because at some point it seemed unrealistic to me. There is too much positivity with the obvious problems of the post-military space, as well as little logic in some moments (for example, I don't understand what Zuko was doing in Ba Sing Se. Did he abandon his newfound throne to the mercy of fate with the risk of a palace coup? Did he not feel the effects of a lightning strike? The longer I think about it, the surreal it seems to me).

At some point I thought, "this is all like Aang's dream, in which everything is intentionally good. As if this is the ending he wants, but it's unattainable." And then it dawned on me. But it really looks like his fantasy about the future after defeating the root of evil. This explains why Zuko recovered so easily, why everyone is just relaxing and having fun without a drop of post-trauma. Because Aang wants everything to be so naive and simple after defeating the Fire Lord. Because he's dreaming about it.

I know this is a very hackneyed narrative technique. It's pretty easy to say "this is someone's dream" to deny any events. But I found it curious, especially against the background of the episode "Nightmares and Daydreams", where Aang's dreams already simplified the reality around him. For me, it's like a lead-up to the finale, where he actually sleeps.

You ask, "but why is he sleeping?". I also asked this question, and the answer to it killed me. Because during the battle with Ozai, when the stone hit Aang in the wound, he fell into a coma. His body was paralyzed because his brain perceived it as a repeated lightning strike, again fatal. The avatar's state was the only one that did not allow Aang to die, but only to fall into a coma. And instead of an epic battle, we have a little helpless boy spending a huge amount of energy just to maintain his life.

The second Aang collapsed, he disappeared, leaving Ozai alone with the remnants of his temporary power. And no one else saw the avatar…

I'll leave the intrigue for you about this, but for now I'll tell you about the concepts from the art.

Naturally, everyone searched for Aang, and, naturally, they did not find him. Katara and Zuko were the only ones who did not participate in the search, for several reasons:

Zuko was rehabilitated for a very long time after being struck by lightning, and Katara nursed him (I'm sure there are a lot of fics about this topic. The only difference is that there is no romance here. The focus of my AU is not on it, but on the problems of the consequences of the war). He survived, but he had major problems with his heart, digestive system and spine. Who noticed the cane in his hands? Yes, Zuko couldn't walk without it. From now on and forever. He was physically unable to leave the palace, and Katara maintained at least some of his condition.

Even after Zuko's rehabilitation, it was necessary to keep the power in his hands. Imagine what a shock the Fire Nation experienced when not just the former Fire Lord was overthrown, but the country's policy changed dramatically. Now Zuko needed to keep power in his hands and establish a new regime as soon as possible, before his opponents raised armies and people against him. This boy, who recently sat quietly at a military meeting, needed to show unprecedented strength and power to everyone: both officials sought to turn the situation in their favor, and the people who wanted stability and prosperity. But how to do this if Zuko couldn't even breathe normally, and getting out of bed required tremendous effort? It was impossible… Anyone else would have given up, but not Zuko. He has never given up without a fight and has never turned his back on danger, even if he risks dying.

It hurts me a lot for him, too. Fate has never stopped pushing Zuko against obstacles, but this time he couldn't rely on himself. He almost couldn't bend, his body almost didn't obey. He was an easy target and there was nothing he could do about it. This helplessness irritated him, saddened him, oppressed him. The only thing that wasn't broken yet was his spirit, and Zuko was barely able to maintain it in such conditions. If it wasn't for Katara, I don't know if he would have coped in the end. She was now his only support, his only ally in these cold oppressive walls, the only rational grain in his doubts.

You ask, "Where is Iroh? Where is Mai?"

Iroh, along with the White Lotus, took on a mission to liberate the Earth Kingdom from the Fire Army and establish relations with the kingdom. In fact, Iroh now shared power with Zuko: uncle was engaged in foreign policy so that his nephew could focus on domestic policy.

With Mai, everything was much simpler: after getting out of prison, she was completely disappointed in the guy who always left her. She sent him a letter, where she finally ended their relationship, and left with her family somewhere far away. Perhaps she and Zuko will cross paths again and will be able to establish a relationship. But not now.

Katara remained to help Zuko not only with treatment, but also with his policy. As a resident of an almost disappearing tribe, as well as an able leader, she helped him with projects and plans to improve the quality of life of the population and actively participates in them. She performed those missions that Zuko can only entrust to her. After all, she was a friend he could rely on and to whom he could open his feelings.

In her design, I wanted to reflect the combination of two cultures: Fire and Water. I was based on the designs of the "12 Kingdoms" (if you haven't watched this gorgeous anime or haven't read ranobe, I strongly recommend doing it. This universe is no less interesting than the avatar's world, I'm sure you'll like it), because the palace intrigues and the plot with winning the respect of the court reminds me very much of the story from there.

One day Zuko's legs finally gave up, he could not get up. All the stress he was going through was breaking his body so much that at some point the Katara's treatment stopped working.

It was a very difficult moment for both of them. Zuko has just started to promote his ideas and defend his rights to the throne, and Katara sincerely did not know what to do. If the truth about the true state of the Fire Lord had come out, all the ill-wishers would not leave this opportunity and attack, this couldn't be allowed. They urgently needed to create the appearance that everything is in order, but how?

Zuko came up with a very brazen idea. He asked Katara to use bloodbending on him to simulate walking. It was a very difficult request for her, because this skill represented the worst face of the war, it was created to torture people. And the last thing she wanted was to torment Zuko. She hesitated for a long time, he saw it, but he couldn't wait. He couldn't stop, it wasn't a luxury he could afford. Therefore, he went out, trying not to get up and move much.

Naturally, at some point his weakness was noticed at the most inopportune moment. Naturally, at this moment Katara couldn't let Zuko fall. Imperceptibly under her sleeves, she moved her friend's body like a puppet, causing him as much unbearable pain as most would not stand. But Zuko was not like that. He stood it.

It looked like this to me somehow:

They were both very depressed that day. He was suffering physically because of Katara's bending, and she could not believe that she had caused the suffering of a person dear to her. It broke and scared her, she opened the way to the Hama's madness, and was very afraid to fall into it.

Zuko assured her that it was impossible. Hama didn't have people to guide her, while Katara has friends. Maybe Zuko didn't consider himself the best moral mentor, but he promised to be there in the most difficult moments for Katara, and now he won't leave her.

This encouraged her and opened her eyes to her own cowardice. She was afraid of the darkness of Hama, and instead of curbing it, Katara hid it in herself, ignored it. And that's what it led to: the person who needed her help suffered. But she didn't want to run away anymore. She wasn't going to give up without a fight and turn her back on those who needed her.

At the beginning, Katara trained on herself, experiencing the same pain as the victims of bloodbending. Careless movement of blood through the vessels could cause internal bleeding at any time, it was very dangerous. The Hama's voice in her head pressed on her conscience, saying that innocent people felt all this pain, and only Katara was to blame for this.

Later, she learned to control the flow of water on puppets, like Hama. The point was to pass water through the threads without bursting them. Absolute control was required here, and Zuko taught her the techniques of firebending for self-control. This was necessary for Katara, because the Hama's voice in her head did not subside and did not allow her to correctly distribute her forces. It seemed like Katara was about to stumble, but Zuko wouldn't let her do it.

Gradually, Katara mastered this skill and tried to draw blood on Zuko's legs. The effect was unexpected. Her great willpower and desire to help him resulted in healing. Zuko began to feel his legs, and Katara discovered the reverse side of this bending. No, she didn't heal him completely, it's too early for him to get rid of the cane. But maybe one day she will become so strong that she can do it.

Katara realized that there was no evil magic, there was only evil intent. This was her first step towards learning to look inner demons in the face, and not to hide them in herself when it was possible to hurt others.

But what about the other design?

Katara's father sent her a letter asking her to return. Her family needed her help, because she was the last waterbender, a carrier of culture and skills, as well as a healer of a new level, the daughter of a tribal leader.

At home, everything was not the same as before, moreover, everything taked shape as a Northern Tribe. I really like the idea of the comic "North and South" about the problem of assimilation. Only here has Katara accepted all aspects of its culture, even the most unpleasant ones, and she would not give up so easily when this newfound knowledge was in danger of disappearing.

Actually, I wanted to draw her outfit of this arch. I wanted to redesign the costume for myself, because I like to do it. I kept the front strands of Katara, we don't talk much about them.

I would really like to describe the path of the rest of the team and what they do, of Aang and what happens to him. But I'm already tired of typing, and you probably read.

After all, the post is more about designs, and not about the AU itself, so the goal to reveal some of my ideas has been achieved in principle. Maybe sometime later.

Hope you enjoyed reading this :3

[hollis-art]

I just love how you draw Data, that is all. He's so silly :D I have no idea how to draw his hair do you have any tips?

Thank you!!! And heck yeah I do!!! My biggest tips for drawing any character, Data or not, is to find references, analyze them, and then simplify them.

I made a little board about Data to help explain a few things, and I'll be typing up what the written parts say because I'm not sure how comprehensible my handwriting is to other people.

Biggest thing to do, is to look up references. He's from a 7 season show, so it's pretty easy to find a large variety of angles no matter what angle you're actually drawing him from.

Just like how you can tell if a Data picture is from the earlier seasons or later ones by the cut of his collar, you can also tell by the shape of his hair. In the first season, his hair was more slicked back, while after that, there tends to be more volume in the front of it. Depending on what season you're going for, that could be something good to keep in mind.

As for the analyzing part, I usually skip this step because of how often I stare at Data whenever he's on screen. But here are a few of the things that I have noticed due to my staring: when looking at him from the side, you will see that bump of volume right at his hairline. It continues back very smoothly into the rounded curve at the back of his head (no indents can be seen), which trails down to the tail ends of his hair in a relatively straight path. The tail end usually is just the right length to hit the top of his collar. And this is something I noticed only recently when trying to draw a portrait straight from an image, but the bottom line of his sideburn lines up perfectly with the top line of his ear (so cool).

In order to simplify the hairstyle, I exaggerate aspects of it to better suit my style. This typically means I ignore how it actually looks, & I make the front & back bump larger than they actually are, also ignoring how his hairline looks in order to cartoonize it a bit more. As long as the basics are there, then everything should be fine!!

While I draw him differently depending on the tool/program I'm using, I tend to draw the hair bump further up on his head, and I exaggerate the size of it. And despite the fact that all the references show the back of his hair being very smooth and straight, I usually indent it or curve it out a bit more. This also includes a shorter, but larger tail end of his hair.

I have no clue how helpful this was, but I am happy to take any excuse I have to ramble about this dude!!!

((I hope my handwriting is legible because I feel like that's easier to understand than the stuff I typed up since it has pictures instead of just my description))

[tamelee]

Hello Tamelee! Do you have any advice to give to beginners regarding drawing? Maybe some exercices that helped you to make progress? I’ve seen that you learn to draw all on your own, and that’s really impressing (and inspiring)!! ❤️

Hi!! 🧡 thankyou so much (ノ・∀・)ノ♥︎ Ah yes of course!!! I wanted to make this earlier but I waited until I finished a few drawings to see if I could come up with more tips and find out what really helps for me.

✍️;

 I did learn to draw by myself, but I watched a lot of speed video’s for guidance ^^ I used to slow them down a lot and really tried to study what artists that I liked did, but I wouldn’t recommend this for beginners. Especially when you don’t really know the program and you won’t understand why they do what they do.

I used to copy the greyscale method even though I knew nothing about color so I heavily relied on values only which made everything look very muddy.

It’s actually only recently that I’m understanding the things that I do and I feel like my anatomy/coloring is improving slowly because of it. 

So, first, I’d highly recommend to instead of copying only as a study method, (like faces for example) to understand why things are the way they are. If you know how planes of a face work, it’s much easier to remember why a certain perspective is like that, when something feels off and how to fix it or how to lay down shadows. The ‘Asaro head’ is a favorite for many, the free version you can find HERE a video on the topic is HERE and learning how to shade is explained very well HERE. Sinix Design has a great video that goes beyond that and it may help you for different kind of faces which you can find HERE. If you're more interested in Anime faces (though the planes work the same), you can find and manipulate 3D models for free HERE or HERE that you can use as a reference. Of course you should always make it your own but they can help with perspective. In fact, you can find many different kinds of models on Sketchfab. Your character holding a cup and you aren't sure how to draw it in that angle? Find one, manipulate it, screenshot and study the perspectives ^^ (I don't recommend tracing or copying.)

Learn about environmental lighting and color temperatures instead of value's (light and dark) only!!! Trust me, the earlier you learn this, the better >*chants* color temperature, color temperature, color temp-

Anatomy is interesting. A lot of tutorials recommend you use photo's to learn it, but it confused me a lot. Pictures aren't always clear enough to see how the body parts are connected and I always thought it was a bit pointless to learn muscles, but it really isn't. I'm not sure how to explain it well, but a picture is often too complicated and you have to narrow it down to find its foundation. I personally think it's helpful to find an artist you like and look how they do anatomy if they have shared any sketches.

Not sure if that makes any sense xD but what I'm trying to say is that for me, looking at pictures alone didn't help me understand much of anything else at all and in some cases made it even more confusing. Clothing makes much more sense in drawings when they're simplified, but this also depends on style!

You can use a napkin around you finger and bend it to get a quick fold reference for a sleeve or something!

Studying the body means... well, studying the body. Naked, in underwear or swimwear. You can find many free references! But there are special anatomy reference packs that are being sold like these.

I don't really do drawing exercises because my ADD just won't allow me to. My motivation immediately drops to zero. So I can't say which ones are very helpful but always feel free to try anything you want and see what works for you! But if there's anything you should exercise always... it's your hands.

Trust me on that one. The pain for ignoring your pain is a consequence you don't want ;-; and sometimes it even leaves you unable to draw for a long time. Avoid issues with carpel tunnel or RSI as much as possible. There are many video's but you could use THIS ONE for example.

I do practice though with everything new that I create. I always try to learn something.

I think the thing that helped me a lot in the beginning was by getting the habit to save everything that I liked. An expression in a movie? I saved it. Favorite art styles? I saved them. Naruto looked particularly adorable in that panel? Saved. Sasuke's hair spikes flawlessly there? Saved it.

If you're quickly overwhelmed though (like me lol) then it's not a good idea to save a bunch of screenshots in a folder because you'll have no idea what to even look for. If you do this then try to keep things as organized as possible so you actually have some use for it and even narrow it down as much as you like. Some panels for Naruto and Sasuke for example I have saved in several folders like 'expressions', 'manga style' or 'outfit' for example. I don't want to spend too much time looking for things, because unlike some of you think, I don't have that much patience xD

INVEST IN EXTERNAL SSD('s) and BACK UP REGULARLY!! Like, everyday if you can, but at least 3x a week. Once a week at THE VERY LEAST. You'll thank yourself one day. Save your art-files so you have access to full versions always but post smaller files if you're drawing in large 300DPI (or more) files. Whatever program you use you can learn to reduce sizes, you don't need to save every layer always when you've finished a drawing, but in Photoshop for example you can 'merge layers 'duplicate all visible layers' as a copy and put it in a progress folder in case you ever need it, like so;

Some other things that helped me a lot also was to create my own short keys to flip the canvas and making the current layer I'm working on visible or not. Personally I have the flipping on 'command+§' and layer visibility on 'command+1'. If you're working with Windows you can switch command key or pick anything else you think would be easy! Flipping your canvas horizontally helps a lot to find mistakes and layer visibility.... I don't really see anyone talking about it, but when I'm rendering over a sketch and get lost in it, I often use this short-key to see if I'm not overdoing it or losing the original perspective which can easily happen!

I hope some of these are helpful, I can't really think of much more right now, but feel free to ask anyway if there is anything in particular! 🌷

[fallenrocket]

cw: suicide

Something I felt about this show after season 1 (and Good Omens after season 2) is how OTPs get broken up/pulled apart all the time, but it's often for the flimsiest of reasons. Stupid miscommunications, dumb fights about trivial shit, unexpected job offers in different countries, and so on and so on. It's so rare to see an on-again-off-again breakup that feels like it's about something.

But that's just what we got with OFMD and GO. On these shows, the breaks matter. They feel inevitable, because they're so rooted in who both characters are as people. Even as you yell at your screen for them to avoid the train wreck, you know that this couldn't have gone any other way.

Hi, "Man of Fire."

Obviously, I don't want to see Stede and Ed making these mistakes with each other, but as much as I hate them hurting themselves and each other, I love they're they're so complex and messy, that they're dumbasses with their feelings.

And more than that, I get it. It makes too much sense. It's "Act of Grace" all over again, because they're still not saying the things they really need to. Even as they've been opening up, they've been staying in the shallow waters of what they're really going through.

"You shaved your bead off, for me," not You gave up being Blackbeard, everything you are, for me, and I didn't think I was worth it. "I'm sorry my horrible naked chin disgusts you so much," not I let you see what was under the persona I've been trapped in for years, and you didn't want it.

"Here's the news, I'm leaving," not I have to escape being Blackbeard because I buried myself in it until I wanted to die, but I can't ask you to come with me because what will I do if you reject me again? "You're a coward," not I know this move. I've done this move. Please just talk to me instead of running, because I know how much I wrecked things when I ran.

In this episode, Ed tells Stede about his mermaid vision, but not about why he needed a mermaid in the first place. Stede tells Ed about the letters he wrote, but not about what he left out of the letters, not about the fears he only told Ed's wanted poster.

It bugged me earlier in the season when characters seemed to giving simplified explanations for complicated issues--Stede left because he was scared, Ed 'went mad' after Stede left--but now I'm hoping those omissions have been intentional. Given all that's been left unsaid between these two, of course they have a big fight after having sex at absolutely the wrong time, and of course neither really understands what's been going through the other's head.

But when the break matters, the reconciliation stands to be so much better. We already saw this once across "Fun and Games" and "The Curse of the Seafaring Life," and now, hopefully, we're going to get it again in the finale, but even better.

But all that said, please tell me the show has gotten all its gentlebeard breakups out of its system. Whether season 3 finds them as pirates, innkeepers, or something else, I want them to spend the whole season doing it together.

[undyingadmiration]

It'll Be Alright

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Being distracted

☄️{a/n: my girlfriend just broke up with me so this is sort of just, a personal comfort thing with a handful of my favorite characters lmao- sorry if anyone is too painfully ooc,I'm not in the best mental state}

☄️{a/n two lol: this was originally gonna have like 3 more characters in it to fully round off my favorites but alas I did not have the energy 😔}

[Characters: Cyno, Gorou, Albedo, Kandake, and Layla, not in this order]

{Contents: characters finding out you're upset, no cause for reader being upset specified}

{Warnings: author projecting its stutter onto reader,a terrible joke by cyno (affectionately) }

Albedo is far better at picking up subtle cues than most people realize, and catches your downcast look in an instant. You had visited the alchemist in his frozen lab, with no real goal in mind, you just figured his presence would make you feel better. "(Name)? Are you alright?" His voice gently interrupted your meaningless babble, his gaze catching your own the moment you dared to look up at him. Your heart leapt into your throat, and it took an uncomfortable moment of silence before you could force your voice past it. "Yeah! I'm just... Ah.. " It was hard to lie to him, so you went with a very simplified truth. "I just... Really wanted your company," you finished. The blond gave a soft hum in response, finally looking back over towards his notes. After a second, Albedo looks back to you. "Come here then, you can help me sort these pages" Grateful he didn't press any further, you shuffled up to his side, and spent the rest of your day easily distracted from your troubles.

Cyno catches on with ease as well, based less on the subtle misery in your eyes and more on the significant lack of energy in your responses. You had bugged him to take you out on patrol, the two of you securing the camps that scholars had made in the desert. Usually, the space between you two was relaxed, and he was comfortable with it- telling bad jokes to welcome your teasing and advice- sometimes they were too hard to understand, after all. "What's wrong?" Tilting his head at you, amber eyes glowing in the setting sun. "Oh- um," his question came out of nowhere, and it left you scrambling for an answer that would simultaneously satisfy his curiosity, and not make you sound so pitiful you needed to be sent home immediately. "I was just...upset, something happened and I thought that working and spending time with you could help keep it off my mind for a little... It won't impact my fighting, promise!" Readjusting your nervous grip on your weapon, you could barely hear the desert howling over your heart thudding against your ribs. "Well, if you say so, but you know you can talk to me if you need to (name). After all," he lowered his head to emphasize his helmet, "I'm all ears."

Gorou could feel it on you the second you walked into the tent, that heavy cloud of sadness stuck to you, dragging you down as you tried to go about as usual. It was near torture sitting through the meeting, and as unprofessional as it was, he could barely pay attention to the strategy plan as he impatiently flicked his ears, desperate for the first second he would be able to ask you what was hurting you. A few huffed answers here and there, and the meeting was over and he could dart over to you and tug you to the side. "What happened (name), what's got you so upset?" He immediately grills you, hardly giving you time to adjust to his sudden closeness and his comforting grip on your hands. Even if he wasn't already keenly aware you were upset, it would've been impossible to lie to him, staring up at you like a lost puppy. "Well it's... I mean, it's nothing for you to worry about! I, um... I..." It took you a few seconds to gather your thoughts, eyes anxiously looking at anything but the man in front of you. "I'm... I'm not ready to talk about it yet but- I didn't want to wallow in it so I'm here... Please don't send me back home-" You hardly managed to finish the sentence with how immediately he wrapped himself around you, hidden muscles squeezing you tight for the briefest moment before pulling away in a blur. "It's ok! We'll step out and train for awhile, would that help?"

Kandake would notice when she came over to visit, quietly stepping through your entryway and finding you tucked into yourself on the couch with a faraway look in your eyes. Careful not to startle you, she made her way over and sat next to you before gently placing her hand on your knee, startling you into proper consciousness. "Oh Kandake! I- I'm sorry, I didn't hear you come in, please let me get you something to drink-" Your rush to stand up was halted by Kandakes hand, still on your knee but firm in its hold. Swallowing thickly, you eased yourself back onto the cushions, unable to look away from her dual colored gaze swimming with concern. "(Name), what's wrong? I've never seen you in such a state" she finally asks, brows furrowed and shifting to sit closer. "Nothing! I mean, I'm just- tired, yeah... Just tired." It was a pitiful excuse that obviously neither of you believed, but after a minute she relinquished her hold on you, thankfully not going to push any further. "Well, I'm not going to interrogate you, but I'm not going to leave you be, either. The winds are picking up outside, so I'll keep you company in here. How about we finish that story we started the other night, hm?"

Layla wouldn't notice on her own, but not for lack of trying. You step into her room and find her hunched at her desk, desperately rubbing one eye and writing with her other hand. You know she has a lot of work to catch up on, and you certainly didn't intend to make that task harder for her, but this aching pit inside you led straight to her. You quietly sat down on a spare chair, planning to make yourself get by with only her presence and not her attention. That didn't turn out very well though, because after a handful of minutes of staring down at the floor, her sleepy voice breaks the silence of the room. "(Name)? What are you doing here?" You snapped your head up, making eye contact with her as she gently tilted her head towards you. "Oh I was just- well I was- I hope I didn't bother you?" You winced at the inability to spit out a decent sentence, and watched as she took a second to yawn. "No, I can work while you're here, don't worry about that. Should I worry about you being here though?" It wasn't a harsh question by any means, but it made that pit in your stomach rocket into a spike of pain. "No! No not at all, I'll be okay! I can, I can go!" Stumbling in your rush to stand up, Layla called your name again, drawing your attention back to her. "You answered a question I didn't really ask there," you winced again, biting your lip, "but I'd prefer if you stayed. I'm almost done with this specific paper, afterwards we can talk if you'd like, or we can have a mutual nap!"

[danniswrites]

My writing turned totally around in Jan 2022. I was editing my latest NaNoWriMo project, and decided to check out a resource I found on nanowrimo.org to help me. Basically, I wanted help to write a dynamite blurb, or tagline. When I create a new story, I use a LibreOffice template I created to put my title page, copyright page with a sentence describing what the story's about, TOC, and a dummy first paragraph with my first dummy paragraph heading.

I wanted to know how to write better taglines.

So I read the article above and the light bulb went on! Simple. Elegant. Plotting.

I had always been a pantser. Never planned any part of my stories, and I have about 650 of 'em, half not even to the first draft. Dedicated pantser. In my teen years, I hated English literature in 8th grade even though I knew I needed to know how to plot, but all the analysis of the books we read [and I enjoyed reading them] just made me feel like, 'I'm too stupid to learn all this.'

Now, I'm reading these 10 steps and had an epiphany!

So, I broke down Step 1 and made it into my worksheet for coming up with taglines.

Here's how I think about those 15 max words to get it done:

One Sentence Summary: Adj.+Noun+Verb+Obj [Worker] [Action] [Effect] in 15 words or less Character With Most To Lose: What They Want:

So, for Adia, Scientist, here's what I came up with:

Discouraged scientist must discover a new fuel so her colony can escape from war.

I write science fiction and I loved chemistry in college, so, hey, I like formulas. I don't want my writing to sound like it came from a formula, but if you look at a lot of genres, there is one.

If you read enough romances, like my sister did, you figure out there's a pattern you can follow as a writer. I was there when she did. She went on to become famous and actually got an award presented to her in New York from her idol, Barbara Cartland at a writer's conference.

I--uh, I'm the non-famous sister who self-publishes on Amazon. But I enjoy my writing life, and though I do love to put romance in my books, romance writing is not my thing.

However, if you're like me and you want to improve your writing, Snowflake Method does work for a lot of us. And, if you buy one of Randy Ingermanson's very entertaining books, you get a free copy of his Snowflake Pro software, which walks you through each step and lets you see what you wrote in the previous step.

I don't do all 10 steps. Let's face it, I'm a plantser now. I'm not that meticuolous and organized. But, I do most of them, because Steps 1-5 give me a nice head start. And, Steps 3, 5 and 7 concentrate on your characters. Characters make your story. If you don't have a character that grabs your reader from the first chapter, why will they want to read your story? You have to have someone to care about and they have to have something happening that attracts the reader.

Now that I had a loose framework for my stories, I needed to [finally] learn something about plot structure more than the beginning, 3 disasters, and an ending. Randy does an excellent job of simplifying 3 act structure [though there are other methods such as PlotDot or Save The Cat that also work with Snowflake Method].

Another resource I found while exploring resources in the Now What? Revision pages on nanowrimo.org was K. M. Weiland's wonderful site:

This lady puts 3 act structure into terms that I can understand, and she has a vast database of books and movies that she's analyzed for us. If you think 3 act structure is complicated and boring, try reading a little of your favorite on this list:

I love the Marvel movies, so here's how she summarized The Avengers.

And she even mentions how what works in this movie would not, in a book. This is something I read time and time again about science fiction writing. Science fiction movies are not 'true' science fiction, for the most part. Star Wars is fantasy set on other planets. Star Trek has science in it, but again, is science fantasy.

In science fiction, science drives the story more than characters or plot. Though, to make my science fiction more accessible to a wider audience, I choose to concentrate on psychology, particularly interpersonal relationships. I do make sure that my science is feasible and believable, and explain it simply. And, I do my research.

So, when writing a book, it's good to see analyses like this of movies, but remember, it's different for books.

A friend who was also a producer told me, for a two-hour movie, you have to choose about two chapters for your script. The director has to insert some points to connect the dots. That's why many movies 'aren't like the book' they're based upon. It's an art to take a book and condense it like that so it still makes sense and absorbs the viewer.

But, we writers can learn much from movies about character development and how to get our readers involved with them, and with our stories.

[ratcandy]

[in regards to the dialogue immersion post or whatever] ok but i'd love to listen to you ramble actually. i love when people pay attention to characterization in dialogue. like its the number one thing i pay attention to when im reading stuff. i wish people would take that in consideration more when writing fanfics especially because when its ignored it throws everything off. ye

Incredibly dangerous ask because honest to god when it comes to writing/reading this is the one thing I'm stupidly obnoxious about!!

Massive ramble below where I am being a little hater. No effort made to put this in any semblance of order I just starting going Off

Character voice is so so so important when making a believable character and yes especially in fanfic I feel this is largely ignored. I mean, I get it, people's interpretations on characters will vary, and in the cases of alternate universes you can make up whatever you want in how a character would or wouldn't act. BUT if you're trying to emulate canon in any way, getting a character's voice/mannerisms right is SO. SO crucial to that process.

What words do they use? How do they move when they talk? How does their tone shift? How do they react to certain situations? How would they react to other characters in those situations? Would they be the type to stammer or freeze up under stress? How do they insult others? DO they insult others? Is this guy gonna say "fuck" or is he gonna say "how unfortunate"?? Literally So SO SOOO Much that can be taken into consideration here and I don't know why more people DON'T. Like that's the FUN part!!! You're putting that beast into a situation, don't you want to know how that beast would act??

And in both fanfic and in original works keeping that characterization consistent is a whole other debacle. And beyond THAT, figuring out the right time to break that consistency for the purposes of showing character emotion or urgency.

Because yes, a character might speak eloquently and keep their cool 90% of the time, but in a high-pressure situation or when very vulnerable, that eloquence could totally falter. Or it might not! Maybe that character deals well under pressure or doesn't let their emotions get the better of them! But that's all stuff that needs to be understood before writing a character!!!!

Otherwise you can take a poised, calm character and suddenly have them explode with no rhyme or reason to that explosion and have it feel totally out of place. Especially if that change is never hinted at prior, brought back up, or happens again.

but back to fanfic Honestly this is a huge reason why I can be so picky with fanfiction that I read. I don't need it to adhere strictly to canon - if I want a word-by-word retelling of the plot I can just go back to the source material - but if the dialogue feels off I will get turned off so fast and back out in an Instant

Like if it's blatant character breaking (he would NOT fucking say that), that's one thing. But where I get obnoxious is in the case of. Well. He would say that, but not phrased that way. Not in that vocab

Ok bear with me here, but where I've been the worst about this has been Zote characterization. YES, SORRY, THE GUY, WHATEVER. But that may very well be because I spent 1 straight year studying his dialogue and trying my damnedest to replicate it to the point where now I can just Talk Like That when he chooses to repossess me. But my point is this asshole talks in such a particular, specific-ass way, and no one seems to understand that bUT ME!!!!!

For an example of my obnoxiousness I once saw a thing where they had Zote say something like "I'll kill you" and out loud I launched into an entire rant about how he would NOT say it like that. He just wouldn't. This Man Doesn't Say Kill. He is bombastic and dramatic and would never simplify a threat down to a measly 3 words and it would most CERTAINLY NOT. BE THE WORD KILL!!!! This man will CUT YOU DOWN. This man will HAVE YOU SLAIN. You will FALL TO LIFE-ENDER'S MIGHTY BLADE, and you will be GRATEFUL in the event he CHOOSES TO DEEM YOU WORTHY OF MERCY.

He would Not say I'll Kill You. No. Never. That is not his dialogue. That is not how he speaks. I, however, Will kill you/j

anyway what was I saying. Yes. Character voice is so important. Setting also matters of course, like that post was getting at (whenever I see modern slang inserted into a world that most certainly would not have it I crumple up into a little ball and die) but it's like. A setting's influence on a character's voice and mannerisms are inherently linked. Like. Obviously one of these will have to do with the other, that is inescapable

With my Zote example it would be very silly of me to have him in a modern setting talking the way he does unless he was doing it ironically. His manner of speaking is just a more dramatic, dialed-up version of the way bugs of Hallownest already speak. And that's just the Setting. If I were to transfer him to any form of modern au where characters talk like people talk now, I. Simply wouldn't actually because this is a big reason why I don't have fun with modern AUs SHDGKLJHSG, those kinda need you to alter how characters talk to make it believable and then I will just already be taken out of it from the get-go

Just like it'd feel really jarring to have Hallownest bugs talk in modern slang . it goes Both Ways

as for curse words which were touched on in that other post, I think that boils down to personal preference. In games like CoTL or even HK, obviously there's not a bunch of Fucks and Shits and Bitches because then the rating would need to be upped. And also it just really clashes with the world (personally) But in fanfic (or in original works of historical fiction), I feel like there's more fair leniency on that, because curse words such as Fuck have been around for a Very, Very Long Time. An argument could be made for the validity of using those words in that setting, if u want to.

But Me Personally. I do not like making characters from pre-established media where there is no fuck-word suddenly use the fuck-word. Or shit or bitch or anything like that. As a person who swears like a sailor every day. Like the extent you'll get out of me is Damn or Bastard. Because otherwise it Clashes. In Mine Brain.

Also like I said in the tags of my rb it is way more fun to come up with unique insults and expletives than to just fall back on Character A calling Character B a motherfucker . Personally. In My opinion. Though a well-placed and tonally appropriate Fuck You is very very awesome in some instances. Yea.

Ok that's it. I'm done. I wrote too much. I think I got out the majority of my thoughts. Though I am not going back over this and I wrote it all in one passionate sitting so if I worded anything poorly. Well. Kill me for it

[kurokoros]

As we are talking about Steve's character rn, I completely agree with anything you said so far. To add to the whole s3/s4 treatment, I just hate the whole "babygirlyfication" by the fandom because of how s3/s4 was written. Like if I hear the word babygirl one more time. I think what annoys me the most about it is that in Steve's case, babygirl=stupid himbo loser, and ughh, I just hate it so much. Yes he wore that dumb sailor outfit but he hated it every second he had to be in it, but the fandom overlooks that completely and decided yeah Steve loves to dress feminine and all (mostly to pair him up with other characters like Eddie and to subject him into weird ship dynamics where he's like the submissive partner). I swear, ever since s3 people think Steve is so helpless in everything, they also act like he's a super virgin who just can't get anyone, which contradicts s1/s2 Steve. I mean, okay, he could have had a funk in s3 bc of Nancy, but the show over exaggerated it to a point it was so ooc. I think the scene I hated the most in s3 is his last one, where he needed Robin to get him the job at FV because apparently he hadn't seen any movie prior to this day (despite being a huge Tom Cruise fan). It's so annoying really because they simplified him so much. He could be such a great character with depth, but nope. And the fandom perpetuates this by making him the dumb babygirl his entire personality. You're literally one of the few people trying to pick up after s2 and develop him in a way that makes more sense than what the show did.

Other characters the show did dirty after s2 are Hopper (bc what was up with him in s3 like it was actually scary), Joyce, Mike, Jonathan (well actually he got fucked over by being Nancy's accessory since s2) and partially Dustin esp in s4. The writers needed a department that overlooks character contingency because those are not the same ones we watched in s1/s2. I love Stranger Things, I do, but my god, the wasted character potential sometimes keeps me up at night. I'm not a talented writer, I try my best, but even I would have come up with better storylines or at least make sure they stay the same characters.

The whole "babygirl Steve" thing makes me want to eat glass. Like, I get mad when I think about how they went the himbo route with Steve instead of continuing the "jerk with a heart of gold" characterization they had going for two seasons, and to see the fandom just constantly make "babygirl Steve!" jokes irritates the hell out of me. I don't want to be that bitch who says you aren't allowed to headcanon characters certain ways, or you aren't allowed to project on characters, but damn some of the Steve stans genuinely make me question whether or not they actually like him in the first place. Like... Steve is a masculine guy! But people saw that he has a haircare routine and cares about hygiene and decided that makes him feminine to fit a queer stereotype so they can ship him with the two most mediocre white boys the show could offer.

And it really is super fucking weird that S3 "babygirl" Steve is portrayed as less intelligent and more pathetic than he was in S1/2. It's infantilizing. And the sailor suit makes it worse. If I could change one thing about ST I would get rid of that stupid fucking sailor suit. The show really did just make Steve seem pathetic in S3, and it was done in a way that I just don't understand why anyone who actually likes Steve would enjoy what they did.

Along with the "Steve can't get a job on his own" (which doesn't make sense if he was apparently a trained lifeguard. this man would have actual references aside from his mother if that was the case) thing, I have a bone to pick with the recurring gag of "Steve doesn't get pop culture references". Like??? Steve was a popular kid in school??? He would know movies (if only because movies are a super common date activity and there's a theater in Hawkins).

I refuse to acknowledge S3-4 as canon in any of my fics because of how much I despise the way canon botched most of the characters. There was so much potential there, and instead they just made Steve a loser with no charm. The Duffers for sure need someone in charge of characters. And plot. And worldbuilding. And overall consistency.

Basically, the Duffers need to hire actually good writers and just stick to directing.

[shallowrambles]

What is your favorite episode or saying from Supernatual

Over time, the lines that have stuck with me are Dean's and Cas's words about trying to get better/be better.

I think Cas's was something like: "You can start being good anytime." and Dean's (to Jack) was "Every day we have to believe we can get better."

I have come to love Optimism for the showcase of Dean's growth away from the fear-clinging in particular.

To Jack, he says: "It's not about being right. You're gonna make mistakes."

And I LOVE that.

///

Sorry I get...rambley when I'm sick:

Since I got here, I notice in fandom that there's a lot of "specialist talk," where ppl identify themselves as an X-girl brand themselves as stuff like: "I'm an understander, I'm a Ph.D is <special topic> and I'm literally always right about my analyses."

And well. I think it was maybe ilarual or angelsdean or maybe even queermania that put it best: SPN is a revolving door where each character goes through periods where they enjoy the moral high ground.

(And I know I've said this a couple times, BUT if I ever go on any of my blogs professing to be "right" or "an understander", please please please shoot me. I'm either already dead or someone is impersonating me.)

The truth is, no one is "right" all the time, in the story or the analysis. All the mains say hurtful things. They all engage in defense mechanisms that hurt others. They all horribly overreach for power, and that reaching for power tends to have multiple, sometimes even competing motives:

(1) For Sam, he wants to be strong to do all this "good guy” stuff, but he also loves the power itself; his tendency to dissociate and sunder his emotions (like *Rowena) can manifest in callous pragmatism. (2) Dean wants to take out the threats, and so many of his arcs are about torturing too! Which is about the revenge power fantasy, of "being the one to dole out the suffering for one (see: Dean in hell, Demon Dean). Dean is neurotically rigid at times because he so desperately wants to keep you safe. (Mary and Dean’s convo in Exodus comes to mind.) (3) Cas wanted to be a "just" God, to put beloved humanity first, but he also really really really wants to punish, becoming authoritarian, demanding adoration, love, etc as reward for his good deeds. Those good deeds ranged from real political threats to thought crimes and run-on-the-mill hypocrisy, often lurching into overly severe punishments.

And Jack ofc, has arcs that echo and represent all three: doomed child that might need to be executed, sacrificial soldier-child, and disconnected heir to the throne/"God."

///

SPN does a pretty good job showing flawed men, and though the flaws of characters like Lisa ("doormat tendencies and people as projects") and Amelia (“currently having a great big OOC freakout/nervous breakdown"), Jo (“become a hero to fill the void of the loss of her father”) are present in small doses, it goes even harder with characters like Amara and Mary! I love love love that no one is an ideal.

So when I talk about it, know that I favor it because it represents how real relationships tend to generate and change. When an ideal exists, it's usually positioned as a fantasy or juxtaposed with a character's psychological wound/big freakout in response to a stressor. (Yes, I think even Sam from season 8 is having a Big Freakout. An "OOC" Nervous Breakdown, if you will. It happens. When Sam goes hard into hunting or gets back into hunting, he tends to overcorrect. He doesn’t wanna “choke again.”)

And Mary Mary Mary…my love. Mary's whole arc was, "I'm not just a mother," because it's trying to make the point that archetypes, even in writing, are just simplified boxes, and we have to step back sometimes and reminds ourselves of that.

///

I feel like the back-half of SPN and especially SPNwin is about loss, closure, and trying to see each other as the flawed selves that we really are. “I wanted you to see that the real Mary was better than (the ideal).”

I feel like sometimes we can veer into distinctly Chuck-coded territory when we pretend we are always right or don't change our minds about a topic OR don't entertain both the least charitable and the most charitable viewpoints.

I've come to realize that I can hold several viewpoints at once, including "Dean as neurotic-controlling villain / Sam as callous-pragmatic villain / Cas as grandiose-idealistic villain," shadowlines. It’s about the anxiety underlying worst self / best self.

Which is pretty cool.

[littlewalken]

Nov 19

That feeling as a writer when the only way you can organize notes is to rewrite them over and over again making the changes one draft at at time.

Altho next time it should basically be ironed out. This last time I did it with the reusable notebook because I had to organize what was alphabetical in to a chronological time line.

Yes it's the CYOA thing.

Let me tell you that having a basic start to finish story line, and maybe a few major changes you can note, is a good way to start. Because mine is a bit of fan fiction I'm actually starting with the basic cannon, I simplified and either combined or cut out some characters, and I'll be diverting and looping back on things.

Even with the beginning there's the start of the story, a major retcon point, and the chronological start to play with.

It's going to be the general map of how pages/plot points are connected that I half think post its would be good for then I remember I have no place to stick them and be able to look at them. So as it's always been I'll have to figure out a way to make that part work in a way my dented brain will understand.

Then again I have the kind of brain that comes up with a trans Peter Parker MCU idea that has the line "You bedazzled it an everything!"

change of direction puppy

Finn the pupper never made a grr sound when playing, he went "ungh". And when he was born he squealed like a banshee, he's a st Patrick's Day pupper so...

Something something don't subject poor kids to any holiday movie where 'if you pray/believe hard enough then you'll get a blessing/presents' because it only makes poor kids feel like shit and hate organized religion something something

Altho I am currently in a situation where my needs are met, and have been for quite some time, I still have deep seated personal issues watching other people open presents. I don't have to have presents too, I just have years of the only present I would probably get is the free one at the whatever and it was always shitty while other people got things I would have loved to have. Not having a birthday party during my formative years has left me with feelings about that too.

Don't tell outright tell kids that Santa doesn't visit poor kids either.

If you know there are kids who will probably go without, and it's not because of their faith as I understand some don't do presents so don't go against that, the dollar store has coloring books, crayons, and stickers.

Even if Santa accidentally left them at your house, he really needs to update his GPS doesn't he, they were still left for the kid(s). Getting a generic, but not shitty, gift is still better than nothing.

And if you're giving a child a Cthulhu Saves trinket or card please give them something else with it. Even if it's to remind them to celebrate Cthulhu's birthday there would still be party favors.

[lady-sci-fi]

I'm confused about what you would want a series to do, because neither option I'm seeing here to rectify the issue you see makes sense to me. No (especially long-running) series would be viable.

You seem to be saying that any kind of expansion or addition to the first time a thing is used is a retcon and not valid. But it's not? Saying Klingons have opera music and had a genetic disease at some point is an addition. Such additions are going to happen in long-running things like Trek and Transformers. They wouldn't be long-running if everything is exactly the same and never expands. You have to add information to keep things interesting. Some additions are better than others, but that doesn't make it wrong. Why can't the Klingons have more info added to become more than just the basic vilified Japan/Soviet stand-in hat they started as?

The first option seems to be to use the alien race only once. Because if you use it more than once, these "retcons" (actually expansions) happen in an attempt to "fix the hat". Trek does have one-off aliens. But to have ONLY one-off aliens gets rid of any opportunity to have ongoing storylines and situations. That's a huge part of Trek. It's fun and interesting to revisit people we've seen before and interact with them again, in old and new ways and contexts. What's it like to interact with the Klingons after 80 in-universe years (TOS to TNG) with a peace treaty and one serving in Starfleet?

The second option seems to be to use the alien race again, but not to do any additions or expansions in order to "fix the hat". Well, that would be extremely boring to write for and to watch. If we can only have Klingons in that exact same context and way they were written for TOS, there's nothing interesting. Worf and the rest of the TNG Klingon can never be anything but the TOS Klingon archetype written 20 years before.

But what if the show wants to do an episode about the homeworld politics of Sheth the Stabosian head of security? They want to give him a context deeper than "he's the not-Human security guy". They want to give him an amazing emotional story helping his people through something. You're saying they shouldn't. Well, there goes all those interesting Trek stories about any of the non-Human main characters, which is another huge part of the series. What if I'm interested in seeing that? Yes, it's going to be generalized or they'll focus on his specific sub-culture, because that's the only way to tell this specific story with the time and resources they have. Trek only tends to bring up major things like that for story/character reasons.

Maybe it is "inherently racist" to have a planet where the audience sees one language and a few general traits. But there is no practical way in any series to take say... 8 billion people, divided into 250ish countries and therefore 250 "main" cultures, and all those countries have several sub-cultures, and go into all that. Now, let's simplify it and say there's 5 Klingon countries with 20 subcultures on Qonos. But it's still not practical to do it. The writers don't have the time in-universe and in real life to do that. At some point, you have to start generalizing. And if they do have time in real life to write a super in-depth encyclopedia, most of that will never be seen by the audience.

Any sci-fi series with a universal translator between alien races won't have that language barrier between the same race problem, since if the Klingons can talk to Humans perfectly fine with it, they would've figured it out amongst their own languages long before. (In fact, there are such comprehensive super-accurate devices in development in the real-world right now. Not to mention the available tools that'll get you at least most of the way to understanding many languages that exist now, like free online ones). You can do a cool episode where that tool stops working, but its not wrong if a series didn't.

From the logic I'm seeing, whatever the series doesn't say immediately, they can't expand or add on later. If a series introduces an alien race with a generalization and/or only a few details, or don't give much info on them, it's a reductive stereotype hat. But if the series later uses them again and adds on to flesh it out more (as the stories allow), it's not valid? But that's how writing works.

My absolute least favorite trope in sci-fi is the planetary monoculture.

Vulcans come from Vulcan, Thanagarians from Thanagar, Martians from Mars. Kryptonians speak Kryptonian and are science people while Klingons speak Klingon and love to fight. The entire population of Cybertron either picked sides or left.

Meanwhile, we are Humans from Earth with thousands of languages, religions, cultures, ethnicities...

I hate it in fantasy, too. You mean there are no dipshit elves that walk with a limp because they tripped on a rock? If all fairies are tricksters, who's doing the accounting? Jreph the daytime troll who wears sunscreen.

[hamliet]

So, this person mentioning your 2ha metas made me get curious about it so I wanted to look for them but then the first thing I found was this: "I think 2ha had the potential to be as rich in complexity as MXTX's works, but instead settled for a more traditional black/white version of the morality" and now I'm actually more curious about this line 🤣

You see... I've alway failed to get the whole hype regarding mdzs and its morally gray this, morally gray that. And it doesn't help that the Chinese fans I know also complain about it, they're like "wwx is the hero, why western fans are so obsessed to change this? Why they don't do the same with their heroes?"... And they also comment on how mxtx is pretty clear about the morals of their characters and I feel like I get both sides but again, not really the obsession with the matter. Because then there's the fact that, while I agree with meatbun not treating SQT well, I don't feel like MXTX did it better when it was only literally wwx the one having his happy ending... Everyone else is dead or condemned to be forever alone for some reason... and even someone as jc is someone who, imo is pretty clear, MXTX thinks doesn't deserve anything but loneliness (the fact there's no woman who wants him according to her, he has no friends, he has no real bond anymore with anyone...). So, honestly, I don't feel like if MXTX wasn't clear about who are the morally correct and the morally wrong in her stories just as I don't feel she was any more fair with her secondary characters for the sake of wangxian happy ending. The same goes with her other works where all the characters that are antagonists in different levels, just like in mdzs, get what "they deserve" 🤔

Ahhh okay, I've seen this argument floated a lot, and it's become a bit of a pet peeve for me, so I'm going to take a bit of time to respond to this... There is a lot here to respond to.

For starters, I would caution you about categorizing of "Chinese fans" as if they are one monolith; they are not. They are also not different than western fans in terms of being human; they are closer to the cultural context of the story, but that doesn't inherently mean every interpretation is correct or textually supported. For example, I haven't seen at all your claims about WWX being the hero (I saw it from a western person, and if the Tweet is what you're referring to, they took the quotes shockingly and almost laughably out of context): while I'm sure Chinese fans do say this... so do western fans. A lot. In fact, Jiang Cheng is very not popular among Chinese fans in polls, while Jin Guangyao is. The point is, you can't say Chinese fans vs Other fans in a simplistic way to make any claim of substance.

As for MXTX's statements, I literally do not take authorial interviews into account in analyzing stories, nor do I really understand why people do. I'll quote Dostoyevsky here: “Don’t let us forget that the causes of human actions are usually immeasurably more complex and varied than our subsequent explanations of them.” Authors explain things in overly simplified ways, and explaining a novel that runs on complexity simplistically is never going to be satisfying. You also have to look at the full picture: she's said pretty cold things about Xue Yang (much worse than about JC), but has also defended him from antis, calling him "my son" and saying that she loves him more than any readers because she created him. I don't doubt this is the same for Jiang Cheng.

"jc is someone who, imo is pretty clear, MXTX thinks doesn't deserve anything but loneliness" I do not think this is true. The notes about Jiang Cheng's dating life are humor. You may not find them funny, but they're clearly intended to be humor. Framing matters (I'll discuss framing in a bit.) It is also factually incorrect to say he has no real bonds. He clearly does. Jin Ling is a bond.

Everyone else is dead or condemned to be forever alone for some reason... I also don't see what you mean by looking at the story, or whom you might be referring to. Song Lan went to restore Xiao Xingchen's soul, to heal it. The juniors went from being antagonistic to being friends with each other. Wen Ning helps Sizhui with his heritage. Lan Qiren accepts Wei Wuxian as Lan Wangji's husband.

The ones where I can kiiiinda see people assuming this are with Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen, but I also don't think the framing is taken into account. Jiang Cheng has Jin Ling, and much like with Lan Xichen, I think people expect spoonfeeding where nuance works better. The trajectory of the novel--towards healing, towards the younger generations doing better than the older ones--indicates that there will be healing that continues beyond the main story. Not everything needs to be spelled out. I doubt Lan Xichen will be in seclusion forever like his father; his father had Lan Qiren (a flawed if well-intentioned man), but Lan Xichen has Lan Wangji, and I highly doubt Wei Wuxian is going to leave brother-in-law miserable. I do think Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian will form a new bond, because they are both clearly involved in Jin Ling's life. Neither of them are really good at cutting off bonds (like even after WWX's death, Jiang Cheng was looking for him). I wrote more on this here.

What is missing from most of these discussions is framing. framing, framing, framing. It tells you what to think about a story's events. Yes, Jin Guangyao and Xue Yang die, but how is that framed as "what they deserve?" Xue Yang dies with a candy in his hand, which if you want to rely on MXTX’s statements, she literally said she did that to show that he was not a heartless monster. Which is indeed what the text implies. For JGY, you have Jin Ling bawling and realizing his uncle was good to him too, Lan Xichen tricked into killing him when he wasn't doing anything, Wei Wuxian realizing how wrong it was and that they are the same. That's tragic framing, not "haha got what he deserved." The literal point of tragedy is that it shouldn't end this way. Tragedy is not "justice." Tragedy has injustice as its main point. You are supposed to be sad.

I've talked about tragedy in media before, and will quote Arthur Miller's "Tragedy and the Common Man" here:

The possibility of victory must be there in tragedy. Where pathos rules, where pathos is finally derived, a character has fought a battle he could not possibly have won. The pathetic is achieved when the protagonist is, by virtue of his witlessness, his insensitivity, or the very air he gives off, incapable of grappling with a much superior force.

Pathos truly is the mode for the pessimist. But tragedy requires a nicer balance between what is possible and what is impossible. And it is curious, although edifying, that the plays we revere, century after century, are the tragedies. In them, and in them alone, lies the belief-optimistic, if you will, in the perfectibility of man.

What is the "much superior force" in MDZS? It's society. And yet, because things are gray, society is not fully evil. Like with Dostoyevsky's novels, people need each other. They need each other to heal and to fully live; seclusion is not a Good Thing. But also, playing the political game kills, so society also corrupts. See here.

What is society if not a reflection of the human being? Born with tendencies towards good and towards evil. Someone who can corrupt, and hurt, and also heal others. Someone who can comfort an orphan with a dog and also torment his father to death. Someone who can kill thousands of people and also risk his life to save others. People who are complex.

By saying "gray morality," I'm not saying that there is no good or evil, but instead that context determines much of this; empathy matters as well, and so what is evil to one person may save another person. That said, there is an overall moral implication that people living is good, and empathy is good. Gray morality has never ever meant moral nihilism. It just means that instead of thinking "there is no right choice sucks to suck"; it should be "there are no choices that will heal without hurting; hence, let's empathize with those who make those choices instead of condemning them." Black/white morality is exemplified with Nie Mingjue's character, who ends up stuck in a coffin for 100 years after being used like a puppet to kill innocents. I think black/white morality is pretty clearly condemned.

Imo, claims that only Wangxian got a happy ending and everyone else was sacrificed for this are based off of personal projections and impressions, not off careful analysis of the text that takes culture, literary allusions, tone, framing, and the like into account.

Wangxian are a gay couple, aka already challenging societal understandings on love. They leave society to heal and then return to help others, which is as far from a "f*ck you got mine" attitude as you can get. It's an old trope used as far back as the Bible: after some time away, you return to go into the world and save. The salvation isn't religious here but it's empathetic. They want to be a part of their loved ones lives.

Wei Wuxian never thinks that he didn't deserve death for what he did, even if the context leading up to it might well justify him feeling that way. He does not think Jin Guangyao deserved what happened to him, at the same time. He does not think everyone else's sacrifices were justified. If WWX is supposed to embody morality, as black/white people claim, then why do they disregard chapter 113?

It's fine for people to prefer things to be more spelled out (they are in TGCF, for example!) but I think MDZS is a novel that is heavily based in nuance (like, that's a central theme), and so when people approach it with an attitude of expecting spoonfeeding, they end up confused.

[jamieedlund]

So we know your thoughts about Aaravos and Callum, what are your thoughts about the Mage fam?

I haven't thought of them in a long time and also I had no idea what mage fam meant until you told me it's team rocket I mean claud sore and lord virginia's family wheezes

Um... Huh.... I don't know if I wanna make this another lengthy answer so I'll do my best to make it brief...

Keep reading if you're ready to see me lose my sanity again. If not then just look at this cute Cally and Aary doodle of them trash talking "someone" You know you love them.

1. I will never understand viren's motivation nor do I love him as a character. . . Actually nah... "do not love" is still putting it very mildly. I despises the cartoony villain vibe that they wrote for him. I think he coulda been a better written villain but I just...hmgggggg the writing pisses me off. I would be smiling with genuine happiness if he's dead for real this season. I see no appeal in him. Fuck that guy.

2.Claud...

I sorta? understand her...but i feel like I don't ...like her as much as I should...Is it the gas lighting...? Is it the very cringe romance they wrote for her and Cally? Is it just something part of her personality that I don't...like??? No idea. I read something here about how she was murdered as a character (albeit I don't really notice it but if you say so I suppose???) I'll tell you what though I really wanna see her becoming the main villain of the show. She will be a very compelling villain in my opinion. It's all gonna be super fun with her.

#freeaaravosfrombeingcalledavillainofthiscursedshow

Also they missed out the chance to do what is in my opinion one of the most interesting dynamic in this entire show: Raydia.

I'm not a huge fan of shipping nor do I go around spilling things about ships but I see so much potential in these two it's baffling like why didn't the writers go for this duo? They'd be fun as heck girlfriends - or just besties for now if romance isn't on the table yet WHICH I DON'T CARE FOR EITHER WAY, just give them a chance man.

They have so much to play off each other like daddy issues, their own very strong views the world, that sweet sweet enemies to besties/lovers trope is going on strong here. PLUS THEY'RE SUPER DUPER GOOD AT WHAT THEY DO AND IT'S AMAZING. Like bruh callum was BARELY an enemy they're like chill after 2 days I cannot --- *face palm* anyways... She's semi wasted in that aspect.

Soreeeeee-n

By far the only character in this show that hasn't been a running mouth piece for the writers very bad, overly-simplified view of good and evil

(except for that one episode in season 3 where he's like "someone who tell you to do something bad and convince you it's good is a villain" like woah woah woah woah hold the phone okayyyyyyy this line applies to viren and VIREN only. Because in the context of Aaravos the man just really wanna get tf outta jail does ANY OF YOU KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE LOCKED IN FOR 300 YEARS?! uh nope cause YOU WOULD HAVE DIED A LONG TIME AGO AFTER LOOSING YOUR DAMN MIND. So to me when he says this it felt like the writers are putting words into his mouth and trying to foreshadow or tell the viewers that oh yea aaravos is TOTALLYY A VILLAIN NO- like fuck that shit ohmygod - if it's been 300 years and the only way out you can see is feeding to a terrible man's ego in order to get him to do what you need YOU FUCKING TAKE IT. That doesn't make you a villain that makes you more of an enabler. AND IT'S NOT LIKE HE CAN DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT IF VIREN CHOSE TO NOT LISTEN TO HIM SO POINT. AARAVOS. I can think of like 5 different ways where Cally can turn the situation viren was put in with aaravos into something fun, wholesome AND DEFINITELY WOULD NOT FRAME AARAVOS AS A BAD PERSON AT ALL fuck-)

hasn't received arguably a lot of special treatments in order to make him look good and is the only character I understand the most. He's overall well-written and I love him very much. I think he should receive more love and be appreciated a bit more by the people around him. Most of his action makes sense to me and that is all I need to put him as my most favorite canonically speaking.

[letsbeoutoftouch]

Back in December 2016, during a sleepover, my friends and I decided to watch EXO's Chanyeol's most recent movie, "So I Married an Anti-Fan". It effortlessly became one of my favourite movies, so much so that I rewatch it —at least— once a year.

Therefore, when it was first announced that South Korea was going to produce a drama based on the same story, I was thrilled. The feeling only increased when I found out that the male lead was Choi Tae-Joon, whom I loved because of Suspicious Partner. Later (to be more precise, this year), I discovered that the other lead was the one and only Sooyoung from SNSD!

The drama was filmed back in 2018, and it was supposed to air a loooot sooner, but it had a few problems and it finally came out this year. Since I don't like waiting for episodes to come out each week, I waited until it finished airing to watch it... And, today, I finished it!

So, here's my review, fresh out the oven!

· · ·

So I Married an Anti-Fan is a 2021 South Korean drama, featuring Choi Tae-Joon, Choi Sooyoung, Hwang Chansung and Han Ji-Ahn. It's based on the novel "그래서 나는 안티팬과 결혼했다" (So I Married an Anti-Fan), written by Kim Eun Jun and published in 2010.

· · ·

♡ PLOT:

The story revolves around Hoo Joon (Tae-Joon), a well-known idol, and Geun Young (Sooyoung), a magazine reporter. They meet during an event, where a series of misunderstandings leads them to have a bad impression of each other.

For this reason, when Geun Young loses her job, she's under the impression that it was Hoo Joon's doing and is therefore keen on "reveal" Joon's real character. However, her retaliation backfires, and she attracts a lot of attention as his "anti-fan".

Later, a TV producer approaches them both to star in a reality show. Geun Young and Hoo Joon accept and think to give each other a hard time on set. But, as time goes by, they get to know each other better and better.

· · ·

♡ EPISODES:

It's made up of 16 episodes, running for an hour each (i.e., your typical k-drama).

· · ·

♡ CHARACTERS:

-Geun Young (FL): She's the best character, hands down (I swear I'm not being biased because I love Sooyoung).

For some reason, I've seen a lot of bad comments about this character. I don't truly understand why some people said that she didn't stand up for herself or that she was so-so, when she dealt really well with everything that had happened to her. I'd like to see all those people in her shoes—I bet they'd have cracked up quickly.

Also, she's like the least toxic character I've ever come across in a drama. She waits patiently for Joon to deal with his problems and doesn't jump to conclusions regarding his relationship with In Hyeong and Jae Joon. She lets him do his thing, is an independent woman, and tries to be as little of a burden as she can to the people she cares about. So, props to her!

▫ ▫ ▫

-Hoo Joon (ML): Although I overall liked his character, I admit that if I hadn't previously watched the movie, I'd probably be wary of him at the beginning. But, don't worry: as the story progresses, you get to know him better. He's patient and thinks of other people's feelings and well-being a lot (sometimes, a little too much for his own good, but he's a good boy).

I felt the need to include that there was this one scene where he acts... In a way that I didn't find appealing. Fortunately, he isn't like that all throughout the drama. Also, he isn't toxic like a lot of the male leads in drama-land. If you're wondering which scene I'm referring to, here's a spoiler: *SPOILER ALERT* When he and Geun Young start dating, they are requested to film an advertisement together. In the filming, he acts all "jealous" because the dress she was wearing was too short for his liking. I'm sorry, but she's the only one who has a say on how short a dress she's wearing is—not you, not even if you're her partner *END OF SPOILER ALERT*.

▫ ▫ ▫

-JJ/Jae Joon (SML): Jae Joon is the second male lead, and he was portrayed by 2PM's Chansung.

I'm sorry, but I never could come to terms with this character, not even during the last episodes. If the writers' intention was for me to hate him, they (and Chansung's acting) totally achieved that purpose.

He is incredibly selfish and keeps this attitude up to episode 13/14. Towards the ending, the story tries that the audience feels some sympathy towards him—it is shown why he acted the way he did. Nevertheless, in my opinion, while his past may explain his actions, it doesn't justify any of them. That's why I couldn't bring myself to feel sympathetic or empathetic towards him. *SPOILER ALERT* In fact, I think Hoo Joon was too nice to be there for him in the last two or three episodes. *END OF SPOILER ALERT*

He's also outright abusive. *SPOILER ALERT* I mean, he slapped In Hyeong and broke her laptop ¿?... Even though I didn't like her that much, nothing justifies that kind of violent behaviour. *END OF SPOILER ALERT*

▫ ▫ ▫

-In Hyeong (SFL): She's the second female lead, portrayed by actress Han Ji-Ahn.

Oh, man. I had a hard time trying to wrap my head around this character. I was just going to say that I couldn't stand her because she was always purposely putting a spanner in the works, making everyone's life difficult.

However, as I was drafting this review, I began reflecting on the character and felt sympathy for her. She was in a vulnerable place—leaving aside that she felt abandoned by her first love, she had trouble trying to make her career take off, and she was in a really abusive relationship. It could be argued that JJ and In Hyeon were both toxic to each other, but it was clear that he was the one with the upper hand (he was the CEO of her new agency, which brings a real disbalance of power).

Moreover, it was hinted several times that all she went through took a toll on her mental health (*SPOILER ALERT* she was always taking pills to calm down, and she freaking tried to kill herself!!!!!!! *END OF SPOILER ALERT*). I believe she needed professional help to put herself back together, so she could let go of her past and finally leave that abusive relationship.

· · ·

♡ COUPLES:

Since this drama mostly gravitates towards romantic relationships, I'm including this section.

▫ ▫ ▫

-Geun Young x Hoo Joon: They are your typical enemies to lovers.

In the beginning, their relationship was tainted by a lot of misunderstandings, which led them to hate each other's guts (but, where's the charm in a k-drama that isn't filled with misunderstandings, am I right?). Once they started to spend more time together, they began understanding each other better. In time, they were able to leave their pride aside and got rid of their prejudices (yes, the story gives Jane Austen-ish vibes, so much so that "Pride and Prejudice" is mentioned a few times).

Their chemistry was alright. I would have changed some parts of the script that made a lot of scenes to be super cringey—especially, before some of their kisses (like, what a way to ruin such an awaited moment!).

The thing I liked the most about them was that neither of them was toxic, and they knew how and when to give the other person space. They were sweet, but not unbearable sweet—just the exact amount.

▫ ▫ ▫

-In Hyeong x Jae Joon: I don't know if they can be considered a true couple, but I'm adding them here just to repeat that I HATED THEM TOGETHER.

· · ·

♡ SOME PERSONAL INTERPRETATIONS AND THOUGHTS:

For me, the story tries to show the two sides of the same coin: things that may seem completely different, but are essentially the same. You can see it with Hoo Joon/Geun Young, their friends, and even with Hoo Joon/Jae Joon. Of course, this could be argued—it is just my personal impression.

Also, while the drama condemns some of the toxic fan behaviour, it sometimes romanticises it. *SPOILER ALERT* one fan freaking kidnapped him, and everything was suddenly alright ¿¿ Nuh-uh *END OF SPOILER ALERT*

· · ·

♡ DRAMA VS. MOVIE:

As I mentioned above, there's a prior Chinese movie from 2016 that was based on this novel. It features EXO's Chanyeol, Yuan Shan Shan, SNSD's Seohyun, and Jian Chao.

For obvious reasons, the story is shrunk down in the movie. There are a lot of things that weren't included in the movie, other things were overly simplified, and some stuff was missing and/or changed.

If you want to have a good laugh, then I recommend you to watch the movie. It's filled with non-sensical comedy that, in my opinion, China excels at. However, if you are more inclined towards drama, then the South Korean version is the one for you (you'll laugh, too, don't worry).

· · ·

♡ SUMMARY:

This is, basically, a sweet enemies-to-lovers, famous-person-and-normal-person story. If you like any of those troupes, then you're in for a treat.

It's a really lighthearted story that will make you laugh. Don't expect a complicated plot because there won't be one. It's ideal to have a break from all those dramas where you can't miss a single detail because you'll get lost, or from those dramas which plots are so heavy they end up tiring your mind out.

I loved the cast, and their acting was great (especially Chansung's, because he made me hate his character with a passion, lmao).

ALSO, if you like Sung Hoon (My Secret Romance, Oh My Venus) like me, then WATCH THIS DRAMA, lol. He has a guest role in some episodes!

· · ·

So I Married an Anti-Fan is available on VIKI!

· · ·

If you read the whole review, thank you very much! I hope you liked it.

[helix-enterprises117]

LEMME GIVE MY OWN!!

The Halo TV Show is, to me at the very least, good. I feel like the only complaints made about the show are the deviations from the source-material and a lot of nitpicking; but the mistake that every fan keeps making is that they're either assuming that this show is canon to the games OR, if they already know it's not canon, act like this show is supposed to be a 1-to-1 adaptation of the games. @ionlymadethissoicouldleaveanask put it best when he said that the show is designed like an "Early-Oughties Alternate Universe Adaptation," and I like that description a lot. Considering that the story of the games are fun BECAUSE you played them yourself (and didn't know what was gonna happen then), the idea of a show being exactly like the games but you're NOT playing it (so not only do you already know what happens, BUT YOU'RE ALSO VICARIOUSLY RELIVING IT) is so... boring and unimaginative. The Act Man even made a video called "The Halo show, but it's good," it's his pitch for a Halo show... and it's literally just "Halo The Flood" but as a show. "But what about the people who never read the books or played the games?" There's a time and a place for both those things, if it matters so much then just have them play and read those instead of making a show that's exactly them: besides, to make an adaptation of the games and books, you have to add context and lore dumps to understand all that happens... and that's incredibly difficult to pull off for an audience that has next to no exposure to Halo, instead of just simplifying the lore and having it take place in a different universe like they ended up doing, which is better. It's what the showrunners meant and DID SAY when they said that they didn't "look at the games"; they were looking at the world and characters of Halo and making a new story out of it. I don't mind that people don't like the show, and that's fine... but I do mind that people get so many things WRONG about the show. People who've watched the Fallout show are currently ARGUING about whether or not New Vegas and the Show co-exist in the same world (since the Fallout show takes place in the world of the games); be as hars on Halo as you'd like, but you can't say it ruins the canon of the games. And yes, I've seen people who have unironically said that as a knock against the show.

Long tyraid over.

---

Other Hot Takes:

The Forerunner stuff is only unteresting when it's looked at in the present. Do ANY story set within the Forerunner period, and it sucks.

Back to the show, while I do prefer Blue-Team over Silver-Team (though I do love them), the TV adaptation version of Halo characters are more interesting than their game counterparts. (Ackerson isn't some chump, Halsey and Parangosky are psychologically interesting antagonists, both Keyes Miranda and Jacob are not nearly as one-dimensional as they originally were, etc...)

Atriox is a Mary Sue villain who was interesting for awhile, but lost his bite ANYTHING after Halo Wars 2.

I love 343's "Reclaimer-era" Forerunner art-style over Bungie's art-style. Though I do prefer both Bungie's AND 343's "Post-Reclaimer era" armors and character designs.

Season 14 of RvB is my favorite season of RvB.

I love Arbiter, but I hate playing his levels. I'm so used to killing aliens as a human and having human-allies, that when I kill aliens AS AN ALIEN WITH ALIEN-ALLIES, I get lost and confused and end up accidentally killing my allies because I confused them with the enemy.

Finally, the Spirit of Fire is cooler than the Pillar of Autumn.

Halo Hottakes

I'd like to hear 'em.

@authortobenamedlater, @mrtobenamedlater, @biomecharnotaurus, @killer-orca-cosplay, @ionlymadethissoicouldleaveanask, @jellotherelol, @empresskadia, @caffeineyum, @ageless-aislynn, @pelgraine, @inthatfandom, @in-amber-clad, @biofish, @sirath-brogurt, @spartanxanthe, @silverpelt3600, @aureli-us, @mlgssy, @makowrites.